Theresa May has defeated attempts to hand a Brexit veto to Scotland

Theresa May
PA Wire/PA Images
LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May will be able take Britain out of the European Union without first getting the approval of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, after the government defeated a series of attempts by opposition MPs to amend the Brexit Bill.

Tory MPs were bussed in from their annual "Black and White" fundraising ball on Monday night in order to block attempts by the Scottish National Party and Labour to force the government to consult all the nations of the UK before completing Brexit.

The government defeated an SNP amendment which would have handed the devolved administrations the power to veto Brexit, by 332 votes to 62. A separate Labour amendment calling on the government to regularly update all the nations of the UK on Brexit negotiations was defeated by 333 to 276.

There were fiery scenes in the House of Commons as the debate was restricted on whether the devolved administrations should be consulted by the prime minister.

SNP MPs were furious after just one of their numbers was called to speak during the debate on their amendment.

SNP MP Alex Salmond engaged in a shouting match with the Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, after Hoyle told the SNP's Joanna Cherry to finish her intervention so that a government minister could speak.

Hoyle told Salmond that he "should know better" as the former Scottish first minister bellowed at the deputy speaker.

The row comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the government has no legal duty to seek the approval of the devolved administrations before triggering Article 50 — the two-year process by which Britain will leave the EU.